


Statement 0192203-A

by TransFurryLesbian



Category: Original Work, The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Depiction of Death by Spiders, Foreign Organic Material, Gen, Manipulation, Spiders, Statement Fic, Supernatural Manipulation, unreality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 13:36:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19358080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransFurryLesbian/pseuds/TransFurryLesbian
Summary: "Statement of Juno Purcellen, regarding A New Building. Recording by Penny Walsman, Archival head of the Cook-Fowler Initiative. Statement Begins,"





	Statement 0192203-A

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I wrote this in 6 hours, and spent 2 hours proofing it. I really hope you enjoy it! This is set in the Australian Sister Location to The Magnus Institute, thr Cook-Fowler Initiative! I hope you enjoy!

A recorder clicks on, and a female voice, rough and Australian, comes across.

"Statement of Juno Percellen, given through writing on the twenty-second of March, 2019. Statement Regarding…" The sound of flipping papers. "Goddamn good for nothing filing clerk…" A few more seconds of flipping papers. Wherever this lady is, it isn't organised. Finally, a sound of triumph.

"Statement Regarding a new building on her school's campus. Statement Reference 0192203-A. Recording by Penny Walsman, Archival head of the Cook-Fowler Initiative. Statement Begins,"

* * *

 

So, this is my story, I suppose. Still doesn't feel real though, and I lived through the damn thing. Sorry for that crossed out word, I forgot about your little operation's 'No  _ Uncouth _ Language' policy. Just made a spitting sound, by the way. Can't show that on paper, but I want it on the record. Hate stupid rules like that. Let  _ me _ tell  _ my  _ story how  _ I _ wanna tell it.

 

Also, I apologise for my handwriting. Its always been bad but now its worse, if I ever thought that was possible. But, enough preamble. I get that you just want this done with, and I want outta this stinking van. Good job on figuring out how to get statements from all over this great nation though, even if it could use some AC.

 

Again, enough preamble.

 

So, I am a senior in high school. Senior. Guh, weird to think about. Grade 12, the capstone. 'Less you're me, anyway, trying to figure out how to keep yourself from drowning in the new workload, as well as transitioning and diagnosing various mental problems - ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, the normal stuff. I get the feeling that's not what you wanna hear about, though.

 

Im ambling again. You're welcome.

 

So, at my school, there's this new building. Its for the juniors coming next year. Big three storey black metal and glass shindig.  Got it all up to snuff, so now they're having us seniors in there to buff out the shine and turn it into any other public school building. Nice building. Fully accessible for disabled kids, plenty of gender neutral bathrooms, that sorta stuff. Chairs could use some cushions but where are they gonna find that sort of money when they're busy covering up the principal's arse.

 

I swear,  _ this _ is at least a little relevant.

 

I am also a novice urban explorer. Notice how I didn't say 'I explore abandoned buildings'. That is for cowards and people who trust cops. You'd be surprised just how many buildings just… forget to lock some obscure loading bay door, or a basement entry. Especially larger office buildings. And once you're inside, unless its some security centre or the like, they really don't bother with locks at all. 

 

That thrill of knowing that you really shouldn't be somewhere, walking absolutely calmly through an office that isn't abandoned, just not in use for the next few hours is something that I've never been able to beat. Thats not why I do it though, I'm not some kinda thrillseeker. Hell, I can't even watch horror movies. I do it to draw floorplans. I'm hoping to be an interior designer after high school and this is an excellent way to be rebellious and prepare myself for the future all at once.

 

And sure, I get caught sometimes, but even the greatest thieves get caught eventually or die in a gunfight. And I'm not even a thief. Once they saw that my pockets were empty, and I said some lies about lawyers and undue cause and just loitering around a parking bay, they just let me go.

 

This will be relevant eventually. Pinky promise.

 

Anyway, my point is, we don't know the new building terribly well, and there are tradies around now and then fixing the problems that crop up, finishing the last couple room's carpeting and paint and other assorted bits and bobs. We're beta testing the building, I reckon. So its nice and functional and pre-packed with stink for the new kids. 

 

Again, relevant still.

 

Point. Is. We don't know what is and isn't out of bounds there, especially me. I'm only in there for one class a week, and even then its right at the bottom, near the front. Didn't really get much of a chance to sniff around, discover the nooks and crannies and cool places to tag. (I know you can't tell the cops about that, by the way. Confidentiality and all. Suck it Cops (I Just blew a raspberry))

 

Relevant, I swear to god. Lower case.

 

So, I go to this building once a week for one seventy minute class which is basically just us doing other classes work, since we're not in the OP stream. Its chill. So last week I get to class and Mons, the girl I sit next to, isn't there. We'd been getting close the past few weeks so I text her and she just responds 'come find me' with a picture of a corridor. Kinda spooky, and moving this relationship very quickly, especially for her, but I've got nothing better to do, so I tell the supervisor that I'm going to talk to a teacher about some work and leave to start exploring the building.

 

Again, I had never stepped a foot past where my class was, so I was instantly in alien territory. It wasn't until I reached the fourth storey that I realised something was wrong. Namely, that there should have only been  _ three _ storeys. 

 

The corridors on this impossible level all still looked the same: concrete floor, new empty classrooms either side, but it just felt… wrong. Everything was just slightly… misproportionate, I guess. (Yes, misproportionate, not disproportionate, this is  _ my _ statement I'll make up whatever words I want) . Anyway, it felt like I was wearing Mons' glasses instead of mine.

 

I gazed out of a window that looked out over the school, and felt my stomach drop. The school was just that little bit further down.This was, somehow, actually happening. I was standing on a floor that wasn't - couldn't - be there.

 

Again, I would not call myself brave. I hate horror movies, needles scare the hell out of me, and blood makes me squeamish. So I have no idea why I didn't just run out of that impossible building. Maybe cuz I had nothing better to do. Maybe cuz I wanted to know what the hell was going on.

 

Regardless of the  _ why _ , I kept on walking. I don't know how to explain it. It was like I was being  _ pulled _ further up. There was this pressure in my chest, like a hand gripped around my heart, dragging me down the corridors. I didn't even think as I climbed the stairs, moving higher and higher into this impossible space. As if that's all I was ever meant to do: walk up stairs, down the corridors, up another staircase. In the main building it was just one switchback staircase but here, wherever  _ here _ was… it made no sense.

 

I think I was on the 7th floor when I snapped out of whatever stupor had enthralled me. I realised how crazy this was. It was still light out, and I could get in actual trouble if I missed out on class. So I turned around and ran back down the stairs. 

 

And found myself in a supply closet. Which led to the second floor. I took a second to just try and conceptualise this but the bell rang and I got out of there as fast as I could. I spared a glance back and counted the external windows: ground, 2, 3, roof. No way in hell could I have climbed 4 sets of stairs. I tried to push that out of my mind.

 

I didn't see Mons again the next class we had together, English. Or the last class of the day, also together. I just thought she'd gone home early. But when she didn't text me back that night, I… I started to fear something was wrong. There was still that Pull in my chest, and I knew, somehow, that it was leading me to her, like a thread in a fairytale leading the way out of a forest. I knew it was leading me back to that building.

 

That night I dreamt of that building again. I was walking toward Mons. She was standing at the end of the corridor, limp and swaying slightly, like an abandoned marionette. My movements were sluggish and restrained, like walking through water, or spider's silk. Right as I got close enough to reach her, though, she was grabbed by a dozen black, spindly limbs with all too many joints, each snapping and popping with every movement. Then they… reached  _ into _ her and she started to move, started to talk.

"'Come find me" She said.

"I'm so lonely, I need you."

 

It was weird, alright? Proper weird.

 

The next day I started asking around about Mons, but… Noone knew who I was on about.

"Yknow, Mons? Korean, a bit shorter than me, pink hair? Kinda instantly recognisable?" Everyone just looked at me like I was losing my mind. Maybe I was. I probably would have believed that if I didn't have the photos to prove she was,  **is** , real. I've printed them out and I' leaving them here for you guys to archive. Keep some sort of record of her. Because she existed, I know she did- does! 

 

Whoops. I just dented this table. Uhh… sorry. I'm also leaving a tenner with this.

 

Annnyywaaaay.

 

Noone knew who I was talking about. 3 days, I asked around. There were no records of her anywhere, and the more I asked, I swear, this is going to sound crazy, but the more I asked, the more spiders I saw around. Corners of classrooms, photos online, in my house. It wasn't that bad, I love the little guys, but I got sick of finding the anklebiters in my… well my everywhere. 

 

I still had that dream. Every night I was further and further away, and found myself moving slower and slower, her pleas for help getting more and more insistent.

 

Proper. Weird.

 

Day 4, I was getting desperate. So, I approached a tradie on smoko, currently talking to some other tradie. She was talking about a missing person. Someone who'd gone into that building and hadn't been seen since. The other tradie just shook his head and walked away. Nervously, I walked up to her and introduced myself, saying that I'd lost someone too.

 

She perked up at that, and introduced herself. Said her name was Mel. When she said that, that…  _ Pulling _ in my chest… changed, a bit. Like it was telling me that I could… not trust her, no, but…  _ use _ her. That she could help me find Mons. So, I trusted it. I grabbed that Pull and wrapped myself up in it, encasing myself in that feeling until there was nothing  _ but _ the Pull. And then I reached out to Mel, reaching out spindly limbs encased in the Pull, and slipped it inside, putting some of that in  _ her _ gut too.

 

Turns out, she'd lost someone in that building too. An electrician mate of hers called Dave. Went up to investigate a complaint of faulty wiring and hadn't been seen, or known, she told me, since. He'd been up there near two weeks now. Mel had been up there a couple times too, up to the 10th floor.

 

So we decided to sneak in that night. No-one would be around to spot us, and she could disable the building's motion sensors. It seemed settled. Her and I, to go into this impossible building to try and find our friends. I grabbed my Urban Exploration kit (Boots, spare batteries, Food, water) and a small notebook. Just in case. Didn't even write a note to my father before I left.

 

Mel was true enough to her word, not that I had any reason to doubt her. Not with my Pull in her. The red lights below the motion sensors were out. She gave me a walkie talkie and we headed up. I insisted on taking it slowly. We had quite a few hours until sunset yet, and we didn't need to tire ourselves out. She insisted on being a forward scout, tapping the walkie talkie conspiratorially.

 

Worked for me.

 

So she took off jogging down the hall, leaving me and my flashlight. So, I decided to do something useful. I pulled out the notebook and started to draw the corridors we passed through.

 

We quickly fell into a routine, Mel clearing one floor, calling to me that it was safe, me slowly walking through and mapping it out. We must have gone up for hours. Eventually I couldn’t make out the darkened shapes of the school out of the exterior windows, the darkness melting into itself. Strangely, despite walking nonstop for hours, far longer than I'd ever taken on an outing, my feet weren't sore. I hadn't even broken a sweat. I smiled upon my good fortune as I continued mapping out the impossible building's floorplan.

 

Each floor was surprisingly easy to draw. A few lines for an entry stairwell, two, three corners tops, each an even 120 degrees, and a few more lines for the exit. Turn the page, draw the entry point on top of the exit of the previous floor.

 

The further up we got, the more… disused everything seemed. Everything was a bit dustier, the whiteboard and desks were still as pristine as ever, but in the corners of rooms, there were spiderwebs. Mel seemed to tense up a bit at this, less eager to rush ahead. I tightened The Pull in her gut, though, and she seemed right as rain.

 

My own gut was reacting to the change of scenery too. That Pulling was stronger now, more urgent, calling me to rush ahead because I  _ knew _ Mons was close. I needed to finish drawing my map, however. And what a map it was.

 

Twisting, interconnected corridors, all diagonals and concentric hexagons, built one floor at a time. I flipped back and forwards between the pages as we neared what I knew was to be the final staircase. It looked like an angular spider web. Out of curiosity, I held it up to one of the webs in the corridor. It wasn't a perfect match, but it was pretty close, it was pretty close.

 

I was about to show Mel, when I saw her stopped dead in front of the stairwell. I called out to her but she didn't respond. She was still alive, though. I knew that my Pull would've told me if she had died. But there she stood, unresponsive. And then I knew she was ready.

 

I felt my Pull within her Pulse, as it started to Grow. It Filled her, strand by strand, until there was nothing but my Pull. I Pulled and she turned to face me. Another and she lifted her left arm.

 

This felt right. I didn't want to have to control her up these stairs, though. So I Pulled her head a few times and gave her autonomy and her own personality. For now. I didn't bother showing her the map. She already knew what was coming.

 

What used to be Mel and I walked up the final stairs and into the final corridor. It was different from the others. No corners. Just a corridor. And a door.

 

The spiders were hungry. I could hear them chittering, thousands of tiny legs pulling themselves around their web. They were waiting. And I knew what for.

 

I Pulled Mel's legs and sent her forward. Step. Step. Step. One foot in front of the other, down the hallway, every footfall amplifying the excitement of those around me. I could feel the Pull,  _ my _ Pull, solidifying within her, now almost a tangible string that I could Pull and Pull and make her dance. 

I turned her to face me. Her face was blank, but I could see her eyes, full of fear and betrayal and acceptance.

 

I thanked her for her service, and Pulled her backwards. She fell, toppling backwards into the hungry mouths of my brothers and sisters. I heard them working on my tribute, I could feel them scurrying around my Pull, their strength, bolstered by the sacrifice, now my strength. Their strength giving me more Influence, more Pull. 

 

I could see it now, the Strings. Small, white cords wrapped around everything and running up high into the heavens. I knew that I could reach out and take control of any of those that I wished to. And so I did, grabbing countless handfulls of strings, each connected to one of my siblings. And I made them part.

 

I stepped forward to the end of the corridor, and my siblings paid me no mind. I was one of them now. No. no that wasn't right. They  _ served _ me now, as I served Her. I knocked on the door, and let it swing open, smiling as I was pulled into a comforting embrace. Mons held me tight.

"You found me," She said to me. She congratulated me, and stared in awe at my strings, and put a finger to my lips.

"Your work tonight is done. Rest. And soon we will hand you your tasks," And I fell asleep, into a deep, black rest, peaceful once more.

 

I awoke in my bed, covered in spiderweb. I was home, truthfully, for the first time in my life.

 

Everyone forgot about Mels. And me. Unless I don't want them too. Then its their turn to find me and my siblings.

 

And they get awfully hungry awfully quickly.

* * *

 

"Statement Ends." A sharp intake of breath. "Darius checked the school records of areas around where this statement was gathered, and while no 'Mons' was recorded having attended at any point, one Juno Percellen has a still open Missing Person's case from that area, dated the day after this statement was received, opened by her father."

 

"Also, this Mel figure, who Juno conducted the First Manipulation with. More luck was found on her details. On the 19th of March that same year, one 'Melanie Johnson' was found dead atop the new building referenced in Juno's statement. The coroners from the scene give little specifics about the cause of death, but do describe the body as being, quote 'Covered in countless small bite marks,' and 'Nearly fully drained of blood'. However, they state that no blood nor animals where found near Miss Johnson's body."

 

"One other thing of note. A second autopsy was performed prior to Miss Johnson's cremation, and those notes state that, quote "Much of the space within Miss Johnson's Internal Organs has been filled with Foreign Organic Matter'."

 

"Juno did indeed leave a few printed out photos and a ten dollar bill with the statement. However, the pictures are odd. Despite Juno's insistance that this Mons existed, she is only present in what could be described as her human form in a few pictures. In the others, all the can be seen are a few spindly, hairy spider legs creeping into frame. Juno appears to be unaware of this in all of the pictures taken. However, it does appear that this Mons was once a human. However, whatever happened to her seems to be a mystery."

 

"Final Comments. Well, it appears that The Web is active again. One would have hoped that after last year's futile attempt to destroy the Initiative, It would have stayed down for longer, given us some semblance of breathing room. However, as it has chosen a new Conduit through this Juno Percellen, it appears that we have no such luck,"

 

"This Mons character is interesting. In the past, abductions and further integrations have only really been attempted by The Stranger and its ilk. If The Web is able to do something like this, that does imply some rather worrying connotations."

 

"This statement does provide us some interesting insights into how Web Conduits function and manipulate those around them. This 'Pull' that Juno mentions, a perhaps spiritual implantation of a tumorous mass that grows the more it is used, until it leaves only a husk. As worrying as it is, it does give us knowledge on how to beat it."

 

"It is a shame that a new Spinstress has reemerged so soon to the previous conduit's demise. We can only hope that she is a lot more open to negotiations than her predecessor. End Recording."

 

The sound of a tape ejecting, and a new one being slotted in. A button is pushed with the satisfying clunk on 1980s plastic machinery.

 

"Supplemental, Penny Walsman." A deep exhale. "I don't know why I'm doing this, yknow? The supplemental. It just feels right. Being my two year anniversary with the Initiative. Just wish I didn't have to read such a sobering statement on it. Kinda ruins the cupcake I bought myself," A lighter clicks, and Penny hums a little birthday tune, and then blows out what could be assumed to be a candle.

 

"At least now I have an office, and I don't need to sit hunched over in Artifact Storage." She starts to eat the cupcake, and continues to talk.

 

"Easier to wheel myself from the elevator to here. And I don't need to deal with 7000 supposedly haunted aboriginal artifacts logged by scared white men," 

 

"Not that none of them have powers. But a lot of them are just… stolen artifacts. Shameful." A beat as she takes another bite.

"Oh, and more information came to us from our coloniser friends over at The Magnus Institute. And its in the supplemental because I don't care that much, and its late." She yawned.

 

"Long and short is, there have been no changes to anything. Whoop dee freaking doo." A softer exhale.

"Boss has been worrying me, though. She's working herself down to the bone to try and safeguard this place against threats. She's got a hunch that whatever's coming our way, its gonna be big. I should get her a gift basket. And some champagne. Lord knows she deserves it." A chuckle.

 

"End Supplemental."

 


End file.
